Dave Cohen

Our webmaster asked me to write something for my bio page, and I struggled with what I should say about myself.

My first thought was to write something like… Dave Cohen is a dedicated, award winning, veteran broadcaster and family man. Dave joined the WWL team in 1997. He is a proud father of four children and the husband of a wonderful, loving wife. He has broadcast around the world on CBS Radio, NPR, BBC and other networks.

Then I wondered if that was what people clicking on my bio page really wanted to read. ‘What do they want to know about me?’ I wondered. I started thinking about who clicks on bio pages, and why they do that.

Bio pages on websites usually talk about how great someone is and almost read to me like an obituary. I am not ready to be dead, so didn’t really want that. I also don’t especially like to brag about myself. I love talking about my kids’ accomplishments, but not so much about my own. I prefer to let my actions speak for themselves.

Who am I? I’m a guy who loves his family, his work and his community. I enjoy going to work each day because I feel that I am doing important work at one of the best radio stations in America. I am honored to help inform and entertain people every day. I am humbled to get to play such an important role in the lives of so many thousands of listeners.

As much as I love my work, I also love leaving the office each day because it means I am going home to my family. Like nearly every family, we have our challenges, but there is no feeling better than walking through the door and seeing the people I love the most on earth. We eat dinner together as a family almost every night. I cherish that time.

I guess I should also mention that I grew up in suburban Chicago, attended New Trier High School and then went to journalism school at the University of Missouri. After graduation I moved to Longview, Texas and worked there before taking a position in Alexandria, Louisiana. After moving to greater New Orleans, I immediately fell in love with this community. This place has so much personality! There are thousands of boring places you can live around this country; New Orleans is NOT one of them. You could never describe this community as dull. That makes it a fantastic place to live. It also means it’s an unbelievable place to work in the media. I think the passion for New Orleans comes across in my work. People often tell me they are surprised to find out I didn’t grow up here.

My bonds to this region were made even tighter by “the storm.” I stayed here through everything Katrina had to offer. I witnessed and reported to the world what happened here. I saw the worst nature and human nature could deliver. I also watched humans at their best. While there was death, destruction and repugnant behavior all around; there were also angels on earth selflessly giving of themselves to try and make things better and help their fellow humans (even those acting like animals). I could have easily left after Katrina, but refused to go anywhere. I wanted to be a part of and a witness to the revival of such a wonderful place.

I hope if you came here looking to learn more about me, you got the info you wanted. If not, email me at dave@wwl.com and ask whatever questions you have.